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Sunday, August 27, 2006

84 and Still Going Strong!

Yes, this is the 84th edition of Havel Havelim, instituted by the one and only Soccer Dad, to give an internet forum, "carnival," for Jewish and Israeli blogs.Psalm 841For the Leader; upon the Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.2How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O HaShem of hosts!3My soul yearneth, yea, even pineth for the courts of HaShem; my heart and my flesh sing for joy unto the living G-d.4Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young; Thine altars, O HaShem of hosts, my King, and my G-d--.5Happy are they that dwell in Thy house, they are ever praising Thee. Selah6Happy is the man whose strength is in Thee; in whose heart are the highways.7Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; yea, the early rain clotheth it with blessings.8They go from strength to strength, every one of them appeareth before G-d in Zion.9O HaShem G-d of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O G-d of Jacob. Selah10Behold, O G-d our shield, and look upon the face of Thine anointed.11For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand; I had rather stand at the threshold of the house of my G-d, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.12For HaShem G-d is a sun and a shield; HaShem giveth grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.13O HaShem of hosts, happy is the man that trusteth in Thee.

To me, King David, the composer of Psalms, was the first blogger. His was a mostly personal blog; writing his feelings helped him strengthen his faith in G-d.

Havel Havelim is hosted by a different blogger each week and coordinated by Soccer Dad. The term “Havel Havelim” is from Kohelet, Ecclesiastes, which was written by King Solomon, who built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and later on got all bogged down in materialism and other “excesses” and finally realized that it was nothing but norishkeit, “havel” or in English “vanities.”

I'm including all of the posts submitted, even if a blogger sends in a few. I don't like the idea of "selecting" the "only best." We love all our children the same; don't we? And if you expect this missive to be organized, sorry, it's almost as big a mess as my house. So just grit your teeth and enjoy yourself. Feel free to comment; all criticism will be deleted; so don't bother trying. Praise only will be accepted. The school year starts soon, and I must put myself in a good mood; you wouldn't want the kiddees to suffer. We don't need teenage boys on a rampage, ok?If any of you have been left out, please accept my apologies and send your links in as comments. I'm sure some of my favorite bloggers are somehow missing. That means, that you're kindly requested to read the comments, too.

Last summer, many of us were amazed at the parallels between Disengagement and Katrina, and now a year later...

May this be dedicated to the memory of My Cousin Mickey, Z"L, who passed away last week. He was physically handicapped with Cerebral Palsy, but he had "no complaints" and thanked G-d every morning when he woke up. Everyone who knew him misses him terribly.

This will be posted on both me-ander and Shiloh Musings. Me-ander should be easier to read, since Akiva fixed the template. Thanks again.

Send your links for the next edition of Havel Havelim via Conservative Cat’s handy form or the blog carnival one, and at the same time you may discover other “carnivals” to visit and enter. You can also use those forms to send kosher recipes and other kosher food posts to the Kosher Cooking Carnival. Blog carnival also has a great listing of recent carnivals for your sidebar. You can either get one for a specific carnival, like HH or KCC, or a general one.

Thanks to Soccer Dad for his hard work keeping this going, and if you want to host, please let him know at dhgerstman at hotmail dot com.

This appears in the UberCarnival.Please put up a blurb on your site alerting readers to Havel Havelim.